The Nightmare's LullabyPrologue
by theoneandonlybaka
Summary: Nearly 500 years have passed since the events of Dirge of Cerberus and the world finds itself in peril again.


Title: Final Fantasy 7: The Nightmare's Lullaby

Prologue: Ambition, or lack thereof.

Author: theoneandonlybaka

Rated M

The sky overhead was dark and overcast, which was quite odd for this day and age. With the Mako reactors no longer operational the sky had been given a chance to return to its once beautiful, serene blue. The people of Junon were perplexed to see the sky in such a fashion. Was it simply a storm brewing or was it Gaia (the earth) giving warning of approaching trouble. Eidrian Marek, President and CEO of Marek Industries incorporated stood in front of the large glass window in his office, located on the 71st floor. Marek Industries Headquarters had been built on the upper levels of Junon so that it might be closer to the military, its chief buyer. Garbed in a dark blue suit Eidrian crossed his arms at his chest, gripping his fore arms with his fingers as he looked out at the ocean far below. Eidrian had made it quite clear to the contractor where he had wanted his office located, so that he might enjoy the calming scenery of the ocean. However, off in the distance Eidrian could see large waves rising and falling. It seemed that the ocean was not peaceful and serene today, indeed it seemed to be sharing Eidrian's own feeling of rage. The sound of a fist pounding against steel could be heard behind him; someone was at the door.

Without turning around Eidrian spoke in his cold, emotionless voice. "Come in."

The metal door slid open and one of Eidrian's Radicals stepped into the room. Kayz was a fairly tall, lean man with well defined shoulders. Dark blue hair was pulled back into a low pony tail with a few strands falling across his pale brow. Garbed in the suit and black tie of a Radical, Kayz looked more like a business man than a hired killer.

"There's someone to see you, sir. He claims you spoke with him on the phone."

Turning away from the window Eidrian made his way over towards his desk, near the center of the room, and ran his long fingers across a small metallic box. "Send him in." Eidrian said never once sparing his subordinate a glance. Shortly after a man was shown in, garbed in the Marek Industries lab coat with the trademark Marek Industries Logo across his left breast pocket. "M…Mr. Marek…" he said hesitantly "M…my name is Douglas Walker…we spoke on the phone." It was not surprising that the man was terrified out of his mind, given Eidrian's ruthless reputation.

Tossing a dark strand of hair out of his line of vision Eidrian ran a long finger along the right side of his forehead. "Yes, you said you wished to show me something Douglas?" Although the man was his senior by at least ten years Eidrian had no problems addressing him by his first name. Removing a disk from his lab coat, Douglas held the small item out for Eidrian. Glaring into the man's fearful brown eyes with his own frighteningly cold blue, Eidrian took the disk and made his way around the table inserting the disk into his computer. When Eidrian had received a call from Douglas Walker earlier that morning with claims of top secret projects being conducted in Marek Industries Laboratories Eidrian had thought the good Dr. Walker was referring to Dr. Sanjana's experiments with splicing animal and human DNA but it appeared that the man had come across something much more top secret than that. As the file loaded on his computer Eidrian's feature's remained the exact same as they had been when the man had entered.

His cold emotionless gaze trailed from the computer screen before fixating itself on the cowardly man before him. "I…I found it…wh…when I was going through Dr. Sanjana's files. You see…th...there were rumors that y…you were looking to replace…th…the head of y…your Scientific Department…and I…I just wanted to see…what he'd been working on." The doctor wrung his hands furiously as he spoke his spectacles slipping down to the tip of his nose. "I…I had thought…they were myths…b…but…the…the evidence…it seems he's…"

"I can see that." Marek said, cutting the man off.

Things had certainly taken a turn for the worst. Somehow Dr. Walker had managed to uncover the most Top Secret Project in Marek Industries and had already made a copy of it. Hopefully the man had been foolish enough to think that Marek would be able to help him and had only made one copy, but Eidrian couldn't afford to assume such things. Not with so much at stake.Shutting off his computer Eidrian crossed his arms behind his back and slowly made his way around his desk back to the small metallic box. He'd had it brought to him in case something like this occurred.

"Douglas Walker…" Eidrian said opening the small box. "You were involved with the creation of Elixir 19…correct?"

The doctor looked confused for a moment before nodding emphatically."Y…Yes…Yes. It…it was what earned me my position at Marek Industries." Holding the contents of the box tightly in his hands Eidrian's skin began to crawl at the sudden cold that hit his fingertips.

"A marvelous creation, Elixir 19, if given the right amount of dosage it instills absolute obedience into a person for a certain period of time." Dark raven locks fell across Eidrian's right eye as the young man slowly stepped towards Dr. Walker. His handsome face was cold and devoid of all emotion, one might as well have tried to discern what type of emotions a wall might feel.

"Y…Yes," The doctor said watching Eidrian, fear evident in his eyes. "f…for up t-to a full twenty-four hours." Eidrian's cold blue eyes stared past the doctor, glistening dangerously. Stepping past the older man Eidrian let his arms hang by his side.

"Yes, it's quite the invention." Eidrian did not lie; Elixir 19 was a vital part to the entire operation as a whole. Without Elixir 19 the WEAPON project, and all other encompassing projects, would have proven almost impossible. "It's all so unfortunate." Eidrian said raising his hand.

"Unfortunate?" the doctor asked slowly turning towards Eidrian. In a flash Eidrian had rammed the vial into the man's neck injecting him with a full dosage of Elixir 19. "But…business is business." The doctor's eyes glazed over and his facial muscles slowly relaxed. Letting the vial drop to the floor Eidrian walked back to his desk. Leaning on the edge the young man crossed his arms at the chest again and adjusted his tie before speaking.

"Now…let's talk about the WEAPON Project."

Eidrian had been conversing with Douglas Walker for over an hour and had gotten all the information there was to be had out of the man. "Very good Douglas, now go stand by the window and face me." Eidrian said in his cold commanding voice. The doctor moved to stand by the window then turned to face Eidrian as he had been instructed to do. Making his way towards the man Eidrian reached out and grasped his left breast pocket. With a quick tugging motion Eidrian ripped the fabric off of the coat and let it flutter to the ground.

"Well…that is all Doctor. You have served your purpose." As casually as closing a door Eidrian let his arms fall to his side then raised his knee. Extending his foot, Eidrian's combat boot connected square with the doctor's chest and sent him hurdling out of the window, shattering the glass. The Doctor didn't make the slightest noise as he fell the full length of the building, and then some, before disappearing in the ocean.

As if on cue Kayz stepped into the room. "Dispatch Dorian and a small group of soldiers. Have them run through Shinra mansion again and make sure we've gotten everything we can from there. Tell them to contact Dr. Sanjana if they find anything unusual, he'll be able to get in touch with me." Eidrian said all this in his usual calm emotionless voice as he adjusted his tie.

"Will that be all, President Marek?" Kayz asked in his professional tone of voice.

"No." Eidrian said brushing dark locks out of his line of sight once more. "I want YOU and two others to go to Douglas Walker's home and see to it that there is nothing left. I want it to appear as if the entire place just simply vanished, do you understand?"

"Yes sir." Kayz said with a nod. The blue haired Radical made his way towards the door but stopped when Eidrian called his name.

"Kayz." Eidrian was no longer looking at the man but was instead using a shattered piece of glass as a mirror to fix his tie. "Inform my secretary that I'll need my window replaced."

"Yes sir." Kayz said reverently before slipping out of the door. The door sealed shut behind Kayz as he walked out of the room. Eidrian slowly made his way back towards the window, glass crunching beneath his combat boots. Looking down at the roaring ocean far below Eidrian stood in the window frame for a moment, allowing the wind to rush against him.

"It's time."

3 3

Some people could claim that Beatrice Anne was obsessive about tidiness to an extreme, but from her perspective it was the world that wasn't obsessive enough. That was why she had taken a position as Eidrian Marek's secretary; he wanted to "tidy up" the world and because of that she was completely devoted to him.

Beatrice Anne's rather large mahogany desk was placed perfectly perpendicular to the large glass window overlooking the sea below. Situated in the middle of the desk, in the middle of the room, Beatrice scrawled graceful notes on a legal pad while nodding into a phone receiver. Beatrice was only half-listening to the idiotic babble the fool on the other end was saying letting her hand do the work of copying his words verbatim while her mind wandered to more important things. Had the dry cleaners used the proper amount of starch this time on Mr. Marek's suits? Had the maid service made certain to clean the door frame to Mr. Marek's study this time?

After several minutes of complete silence, save the constant 'mmmhm' and scratching of pen on paper, the door behind Beatrice opened. With a curt but polite "Thank you", Beatrice set the phone on its cradle and rose from her chair to face the person exiting Mr. Marek's office.

Inclining her head towards the blue-haired youth, Beatrice gently called his name.

"Kayz"

The radical offered her a small smirk and replied, "Beatrice. Boss-man needs a new window."

Nodding once, Beatrice dismissed the Radical from her mind and returned to her desk. Her rolodex was on the far corner of her desk; right underneath the large security monitor that showed the entrance to the hallway, as well as the reception room. Musing briefly at how inefficient this positioning was, Beatrice rounded the table and grabbed the rolodex, flipping absently to a tab labeled maintenance. Satisfied with her work, Beatrice picked up the phone and positioned the rolodex in front of her so she could see the number clearly.

Dialing and placing an order for the immediate replacement of the Ceiling- to – Floor window took less than a minute. As soon as the phone was resting back on its cradle, she picked up her legal pad and entered Mr. Marek's office.

Staring down into the darkened waters of the ocean Eidrian studied the frigid rolling waves. A cool breeze blew by him again sending his raven locks flying back off of his brow. Unbuttoning his jacket Eidrian held his arms out and let the wind blow his coat open. The cool breeze felt good against his skin and it felt refreshing to feel the chilly wind biting him through his thin white button up. Eidrian heard Beatrice coming before the woman announced herself and buttoned his jacket, taking the time to smooth out a wrinkle before she spoke. She took a moment to study the striking figure her boss made, posing before a broken glass window. Beatrice was a woman who could appreciate the finer things of life and Eidrian Marek was, in Beatrice's mind, as fine as they got.

Quietly clearing her throat, Beatrice addressed her employer; President Eidrian Marek would not turn around to face his secretary. She knew him too well, it would have been unnerving for most men to have someone understand them so well, but Eidrian didn't care. The better she understood him the better she could follow his orders.

"Sir, a new Robo guard prototype has just been completed in Rocket City. The scientists heading the project would 'Be delighted' should you wish to come 'check it out'". Beatrice took a moment to elevate her brow just so, indicating her personal feelings on the terminology she had recorded.

"Should you be ready and willing at this particular moment, sir, I'll have the helicopter prepped and on the third launch pad in 20 minutes."

Eidrian would not respond, Beatrice knew what needed to be done, he didn't have to tell her. Upon hearing the news of the Project's completion, Eidrian did not congratulate himself, he wouldn't grin triumphantly, he didn't even give a smirk of satisfaction; Eidrian Marek just stood there, continuing to stare out at the ocean.

Taking his silence as an affirmation Beatrice nodded slightly, and pushing the glasses further up the tip of her nose, she turned a page on her legal pad.

"Also, you mentioned that I should inform you as soon as the Project was completed."A brief smile chases her lips as she continues in the same tone of voice;

"Consider yourself informed."

Eidrian glanced at Beatrice from over his shoulder fixing the girl with an even stare; she didn't budge an inch. Beatrice certainly did have an odd sense of humor, which was at least better than Marek's nonexistent sense one. Beatrice waited for Eidrian to turn around and acknowledge her, she always did. Reaching into his jacket, Eidrian removed his PHS and pressed the speed dial for Dr. Sanjana's message service. Eidrian refused to speak to the man over the phone, preferring to see the fear in the man's eyes when he pressed him, when he threatened to pull his research. Things like that didn't truly make Eidrian happy or give him joy; they were just things that he preferred to see. "Sanjana…," Eidrian didn't need to mention who was speaking, Sanjana knew what the hell his employer sounded like. "As of this moment the HASTE project has been completed. I will expect to see you tomorrow to discuss the WEAPON Project. For your sake doctor I hope you have made some headway." Eidrian flipped the PHS shut before sliding it back into his coat pocket. Turning around Eidrian straightened his tie and slowly walked over to Beatrice. "Make it the second launch pad in ten minutes." Eidrian said as he walked over to his desk. Grasping the gunblade that rested against the edge, Eidrian slipped it into its scabbard at his hip. "Beatrice…" Eidrian said running his fingers through his dark hair. "…if Dr. Sanjana does not produce results soon he will be of little use to me. Make all the necessary preparations to bring in a replacement. Should he fail me tomorrow there will most definitely be an opening in the Science Department."

Beatrice nodded absently, adjusting a note on her legal pad. Snapping to attention, a slight smile graced her soft features as she spoke. "Yes sir".Eidrian gave a short nod before adjusting his coat and tie. Walking out of the room and towards the elevators, Eidrian began to contemplate his next move; his next destination was Rocket City.


End file.
